Bernard Ward

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment with possibility of parole
Years Imprisoned:	5.17
Year Crime:	1988
Year Convicted:	1989
Year Cleared:	1994
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Maryland
County or Region of Crime:	Anne Arundel
City of Crime:	Annapolis
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Bernard Ward was wrongly convicted in 1989 of committing a murder in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in November 1988. Key prosecution evidence was Ward's confession that he recanted as coerced. Ward's alibi defense, supported by six witnesses, was he was 900 miles away in Tallahassee, Florida at the time of the crime. While the jury was deliberating the prosecution offered a deal of life in prison with the possibility of parole if Ward pled no contest to murder. Ward took the deal. Afterwards, Ward filed a motion to withdraw his plea on the basis the judge should have refused ot accept his plea based on his unrebutted alibi evidence. The Annapolis Capital Newspaper investigated Ward's case and found additional alibi witnesses supporting he was in Tallahassee, including court personnel related to a custody dispute Ward's ex-wife was having with another man. The paper also discovered telephone records supporting he was in Florida and not Maryland. Ward was granted a new trial on November 13, 1992 on the basis his trial lawyer, who only met Ward once prior to trial, had provided ineffective assistance of counsel. During Ward's retrial he testified his confession, that lacked critical details of the crime, was coerced by Tallahassee detectives. The jury heard all the evidence supporting Ward's alibi of being in Florida and he was acquitted him on February 10, 1994."
Conviction Caused By:	"Ward falsely confessed, and his trial lawyer provided ineffective assistance of counsel."
Innocence Proved By:	"Bernard Ward was acquitted on February 10, 1994 after a retrial."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	28
Age When Released:	33
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Bernard Ward, The National Registry of Exonerations"
Information Location 1:	http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4206
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Bernard Ward

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment with possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

5.17

Year Crime:

1988

Year Convicted:

1989

Year Cleared:

1994

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Maryland

County or Region of Crime:

Anne Arundel

City of Crime:

Annapolis

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Ward falsely confessed, and his trial lawyer provided ineffective assistance of counsel."

Innocence Proved By:

"Bernard Ward was acquitted on February 10, 1994 after a retrial."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

28

Age When Released:

33

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Bernard Ward, The National Registry of Exonerations"

Information Location 1:

http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4206

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Book About Case:

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